eBook Library for Mac

Though its name suggests a much more generalized purpose, eBook Library for Mac helps you perform only one specific task, which is practicing speed reading, using eBooks as a source.

We downloaded eBook Library for Mac and launched the self-contained binary without issue. When we read through the short but comprehensive Help file, we learned that the app requires a very specific format, plain text encoded in UTF-8. Through a menu item in the app we were brought to Project Gutenberg, a repository of hundreds of free public domain eBooks. We downloaded an eBook in the required format, and then learned we had to edit the file a bit as there was some text included not related to the book, itself. We edited and saved the file in a minute or so, but the manual process didn't score points for the app. It was easy to upload and save the file to our eBookshelf for future access. For any open file, you just click the "Start" button and it highlights small blocks of text at a speed you determine -- this is the speed reading technique at work. We could configure a speed of 50 to 1500 words per minute, and there was an associated counter indicating how much time was left until the end of the book. We were also able to start at the beginning, pause, and continue where we left off at any time. This last option was true even after closing the app and restarting it with the handy "Use Last Source" button, which returned us to the exact line where we stopped.

eBook Library for Mac offers a basic, no-frills approach to speed reading, and once you get past the initial loading of an eBook into the app, its intuitive interface and flexible operation make it a useful download for those looking to learn and practice speed reading.